Flexible door.



No. 705,553, Patented luly 29, |902.

J. S. BLAKE.

FLEXIBLE DUUR.

(Application lled. May 6, 1901,)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES iPhyrEN'r OFFICE.

JOSEPH S. BLAKE, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO FLEXI- BLEDOOR AND SHUTTER COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS,

A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 705,553, dated July 29,1902. Application iiled May 6,1901. Serial No. 59,051. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom/it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOSEPH S. BLAKE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester'and Common- Wealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in FlexibleDoors, of`

which the following is a specification', accompanied by drawingsformingapart ofthe same, in whichso Figure 1 represents a frontelevation of a portion of a iiexible door with the inclosing casingshown in sectional view.` Fig. 2 shows a portion of thedoor with a partof the operating mechanism shown in sectional View;

and Fig. 3 is a top view of a portion of a flexible door, showing theoperating mechanism.

Similar reference-letters refer to similar parts in the different views.

My invention relates to that class of eXizo ble doors which consist of aseries of leaves hinged together at their edges and wound in a coil upona rod orspindle from which the leaves are unwound in the operation ofclosing the door, and my invention relates parz 5 ticularly to theapparatus by which the winding and the unwinding of the coil around thespindle or shaft is controlled in the operation of closingand openingthe door; and it consists in the employmentof a yielding con- 3o nectionbetween the rod or shaft upon which the door is coiled and a wheel ordrum operatively connected with the leaves of the door, sofas to berotatedas the door is opened or closed.

3 5 Referring to the drawings, A denotes a portion of a iiexible doorconsisting of a series of parallel leaves a ct a, suitably connected attheir edges in any well-known method of constructing doors of thisclass. The edge A of 4o the door is fastened at suitable intervals tocollars, one of which is shown at Aattached to a vertical shaft AS andsupported in suitable bearings at one side of the door-opening. Theupper` ends of each of the leaves a are provided with a projecting pinb, said pins being arranged equal distances apart and adapted to engagethe teeth of a wheel B, which is attached to a stud B', turning in abearing B2 and having attached to its upper 5o end a pinion C, which isoperatively connccted with a gear D through an intermediate pinion E,turning upon a stud E'.' The gear D is capable of turning loosely uponthe vertical shaft A3 and carries a drum or case F, containing a flatcoiled spring G, one end of which is attached to the drum or case F andthe opposite end is fastened to a collar I-I, which is attached to thevertical shaft A3. When the door` is opened, the several leaves c ct aare wound in a coil I about the Vertical shaft A3. When the door is tobe closed, it is drawn in the direction of the arrow J, Fig. l, andunwound from Vthe vertical shaft A3, the movement of the`door"in thedirection of the arrow J causing 'the toothed wheel B to be 65 rotatedby means of the pins Zi, and the rotation of the toothed wheel B isimparted to the gear D through the intermediate pinion E. The gear D inthe operation of closing the door and unwinding it from the coil Icauses 7o the blade-spring G to be Wound up, so that its tension will beexertedto rotate the vertical shaft A3 in the proper direction to windup the coil when the door is closed or is moved in the reverse directionto the arrow J or in the direction of the arrow K.

In the operation of opening or closing the door it is moved in astraight line past the toothed wheel B, causing the gear-wheel D to berotated through the intermediate pinion E. The vertical shaft A3,however, is caused `to rotate at a varying speed relatively to the speedof the door owing to the varying size of the coil I. In order tocompensate for the variation in speed between the movement of the doorand the rotation of the vertical shaft A3, I form a yielding connectionbetween the shaft A3 and the gear D by means of the coiled blade-springG, which is attached at its opposite ends to the drum F and to the 9ocollar H so that the spring will be wound up in the operation of closingthe door, causing the tension of the springto be utilized in rotatingthe vertical shaft A3 for `the .purpose of Winding up the springinto acoil when the door is opened or movedin the direction of the arrow K,Fig. l.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a flexible door, the combination ofa` roo shaft or spindle, aseries of leaves hinged together and forming the body of the door havingone edge of said door-body connected with said shaft, whereby saidleaves are Wound into a coil by the rotation of said shaft, of a toothedWheel, means carried by said hinged leaves for engaging said toothedwheel and rotating the same as the door is opened or closed, and anintermediate connecting mechanism between said toothed wheel and saidshaft comprising a yielding member, Whereby the rotation of said shaftin Winding said door-body may be varied relatively to the rotation ofsaid toothed wheel, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a shaft and a flexible door attached to saidshaft, of a coiled spring having one end connected with said shaft andhaving its opposite end operatively connected with said door, wherebythe operation of unwinding the door from said shaft will cause saidspringr to be wound with a uniform movement, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a shaft and a flexible door attached to saidshaft, of a coiled spring carried by a wheel or drum and having one endattached thereto and having its operated by the door in the operation ofopening and closing the same for rotating said wheel or drum,substantially as described.

4:. The combination of a shaft, a iiexible door attached to said shaft,a coiled spring attached at one end to said shaft, a Wheel or drumrotating concentrically with said shaft and attached to the opposite endof said coiled spring, and means for rotating said Wheel or drumoperated by the movement of the door in opening or closing the same,substantially as described.

5. The combination of a door-body composed of a series of leaves hingedtogether, a shaft upon which said door-body is Wound, pins projectingfrom said leaves, a toothed Wheel engaged by said pins, a pinionattached to said toothed Wheel, a gear-Wheel driven by said pinion andconcentric with the shaft upon which the door is Wound, and a yieldingconnection between said gear and shaft, substantially as described.

Dated this 29th day of April, 1901.

JOSEPH S. BLAKE.

Vitnesses:

RUFUS B. FOWLER, FLORENCE C. CooK.

